Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
June 2, 1852 Eduard Spelterini, who would achieve widespread fame for his balloon ascents and the photographs that he took during those flights, was born in the village of Bazenheid in Switzerland. He developed a strong interest in travel via balloons after moving to Paris in the mid-1870s. In 1877, Spelterini was licensed as a... Continue Reading →
June 1, 1906 Work was completed on a lighthouse in the southeastern region of the then-Territory of Alaska. This octagonal structure is specifically located on Eldred Rock, an island that is in the Pacific Ocean and adjacent to the inlet known as Lynn Canal. The Eldred Rock Light was the last of 10 lighthouses built... Continue Reading →
Raja Chari, whose considerable flight experience so far has included a journey into space, was born in Milwaukee in 1977 to Sreenivas V. “Shari” Chari and Peggy Egbert. “Shari” Chari, an engineer, had been born in the city of Hyderabad in India in 1942. He and Peggy Egbert met in Milwaukee while he was a... Continue Reading →
May 27, 1931 Auguste Piccard, a world-renowned physicist and inventor, and his fellow physicist Paul Kipfer achieved a record-setting balloon flight in which they became the first human beings to enter into the stratosphere. (The stratosphere is the second layer of Earth’s atmosphere; it is located above the troposphere and below the mesosphere.) Auguste Piccard... Continue Reading →
May 26, 1932 In Denmark, a royal yacht was officially commissioned as an auxiliary ship of the Royal Danish Navy. His Danish Majesty’s Yacht (HDMY) Dannebrog (A540), which was named after the national flag of Denmark, had been built at the Naval Shipyard in Copenhagen. She was launched by Queen Alexandrine (1879-1952), who reigned as... Continue Reading →
May 25, 1884 The San Juan de Salvamento Lighthouse made its debut on Isla de los Estados, a remote island within Argentina’s section of the archipelago Tierra del Fuego. Isla de los Estados is located 18 miles (29 kilometers) off the easternmost point of that archipelago’s main island of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego.... Continue Reading →
May 24, 2007 The Cotswold Way, a footpath in southwestern England, was officially designated a National Trail. National Trails encompass long-distance footpaths and bridleways in both England and Wales and are administered by Natural England, a non-departmental public agency of the United Kingdom; and Natural Resources Wales, a Welsh Government-sponsored body that was formed in... Continue Reading →
In 2020, Josephine Tauoa made U.S. Navy history as the first female American Samoan to be promoted to command master chief petty officer. (An unincorporated territory of the United States, American Samoa is southeast of the independent state of Samoa in the South Pacific Ocean.) As command master chief petty officer (CMC), Tauoa serves as... Continue Reading →
May 20, 2014 A dedication ceremony was held for a single-span bridge in Dublin, Ireland. This structure -- measuring 157 feet (48 meters) in length and 85 feet (26 meters) in width -- crosses the River Liffey and serves as a link between Marlborough and Hawkins Streets in Ireland’s capital city. The bridge is used... Continue Reading →
May 19, 1869 In Australia, a railway station in the town of Musclebrook in the colony (now state) of New South Wales (NSW) was officially opened with considerable fanfare. (That town in the east-central section of NSW is now known as Muswellbrook.) This station was built as part of the NSW-based Great Northern Railway (the... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 